The first thing to do is to see a general practitioner for a check-up and diagnosis. Maybe do blood tests, which may include hemogram (anemia causes fatigue and malaise), thyroid function (related to anxiety and depression), kidney function, glycemia, etc., and levels of vitamin D 3.

In addition, it is useful to see, with the help of those who know and love us, what else may be related: fatigue for various reasons and lack of sleep can make everything look in its worst aspect… In the relationship between psychology and spiritual life, the main psychological destabilizer is incoherence: not living according to ideals and values.

The guiding symptom for recognizing depression is a decrease in mood, including sadness, melancholy, despair, apathy, lack of initiative and irritability, which lasts for more than two weeks. It is accompanied by loss of interest and initiative, psychomotor slowness, pessimism, indecisiveness, feelings of guilt, etc. It goes beyond what would be expected in the face of a sad event (such as bereavement), and causes a marked weakening of physical and social functions and work capacity.

The boundary between depression and sadness is not clear. To differentiate between them, the following table helps:

Self-confidence is based on a good self-knowledge, in particular of the affective world: what emotions, feelings and passions do I experience, what is my mood like, what is the cause of what I feel, how should I react to what I feel…? You can go deeper in the following article: Affectivity, maturity and happiness.

Self-confidence also requires us to know our abilities and limitations. With the passing of the years, the help of others and the grace of God, we discover them.

Then, we must accept ourselves, love our way of being with so many good aspects of inherited temperament; and continue to forge our character. You can read more about it in the following article: Some ideas about temperament.